Public trust in science may be on the up, but the field is suffering badly from declining universities and a long-running replicability crisis.
Scientists are riding high at present. Trust in science looks to have risen on the coattails of medical science during the COVID-19 crisis.
Whilst we might disagree with some of the recommendations (block grants to Universities for instance) we think this is overall a good call for debate into the sector. We firmly believe that it is a topic that needs external analysis. We agree with this as Internal review of these matters tends to repeat the same mistakes. We have included links to 30 related items.
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It may be too early to tell — trust will depend in large part on whether measures like distancing and quarantine do actually work in the long run.
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During this science week, which ends Sunday, August 23, some peak bodies have gone hard on the COVID-19 angle. Science and Technology Australia headlines “STEM experts guiding Australia’s COVID-19 success …” who “help the nation and humanity in our hours of greatest need”.
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This adds to the framing of the pandemic as war, justifying extreme measures and technocratic solutions. It will play well with those Australians who share that view while excluding others. It is a hostage to the future if measures advocated by public health experts turn out poorly.
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